Death is as unpredictable as life itself. It manifests both withtin psychological and physical forms. Thus, in both aspects, it marks a significant end. Death can cause pain, but it also provides one's soul with a new sense of strength and a fresh beginning. In the novel The Metamorphosis written by Franz Kafka as well as is the play titled The Cherry Orchard by Anton Chekhov, death is presented in two different manners. Within both texts, the authors utilize a different outlook on the roll of death. Both authors accomplish this in varied styles.This is portrayed most visibly through each literary work's plot line. In The Cherry Orchard, the selling of the Ranevskya's beloved orchard represents the death of a antecedent lifestlye. Lifestyle alteration reflects prominently in The Metamorphosis as well, where Gregor's death brings revelation, and subsequently bearing a more blissful life to Gregor's family.
Kafka and Chekhov portray the basis of lifestyle alteration through the lives of their fictional characters, Gregor Samsa and the Ranevskya family. In both texts, an undeniable change pilots to the demise of a divine past. This defines the death of a former life, bringing forth a dark and unknown future. Following this significant change is where the pivotting point of the plot can be perceived.
In The Metamorphosis, Gregor "woke up one morning from unsettling dreams." and ".found himself changed into a monstrous vermin."(3) This clandestine transformation signifies the end of Gregor's past life. Despite the fact that death pinpoints itself directly in the beginning of the story, it still indicates the pivotting point of the plot. Gregor must now accustom himself to a completely new body and lifestyle. .
While this occurs, Gregor's family falls into a state of denial. They refuse to believe that Gregor's transformation should have any affect on them. They comfort themselves by saying "when Gregor returns to us" (103) only hoping that the metamorphosis is a temporary phase.
